Team size: 49

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

The modern in-house counsel faced with the continuing challenge of doing ‘more with less’ and demonstrating value-add needs to focus the Legal team’s resources ever more tightly on the firm’s most significant business opportunities and its greatest risks and find alternative ways to deliver routine, standard legal tasks. With the increasing impact and velocity of technology change, in particular through Generative AI, flexibility, agility and a learning mindset to understand its impact and opportunities on business and legal operations, have become key attributes for a successful counsel.

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how can general counsel contribute to driving such initiatives within the organisation?

At Currys we are committed to operating a responsible and sustainable business, based around three core objectives – we will create circular business models by giving technology a longer life through recycling, re-use and repair; achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and help to re-eradicate digital poverty through our partnership with the Digital Poverty Alliance bringing the benefits of technology to excluded communities. This sustainability strategy is integral to the Group’s overall strategy and core to the success of the business providing a ‘point of difference’ to our competitors which resonates with customers and engages colleagues. Currys’ success has been recognised by our inclusion in the annual Financial Times ‘Climate Leaders’ rankings as one of Europe’s leading retailers. In the UK, for example, we repaired over 1.3 million devices at our repair centre in Newark, which is the largest such facility in Europe.

The Group Sustainability Leadership team, of which I am one of three ExCo members, co-ordinates and monitors progress of all the Group’s sustainability activities against the sustainability strategy, which, in turn, reports up to a Board ESG Committee for which I am the Company Secretary.

As General Counsel, I also work closely with the Head of Sustainability to ensure compliant financial reporting of sustainability metrics and the accuracy of ‘green claims’.